State: Governor's proposal has rollback, portability, no sales hike

TALLAHASSEE - Under pressure to weigh in on the property tax debate, Gov. Charlie Crist outlined a plan Wednesday to cut $33.5-billion over five years without increasing sales taxes.

The plan includes a rollback and cap on local government, doubling the $25,000 homestead exemption and allowing people to transfer Save Our Homes benefits to new homes.

"Some (lawmakers) have come to me and said, 'A little more guidance from the executive branch might not be a bad thing,' " Crist said.

It arrived as the House and Senate met for a third day and continued to wrangle over huge differences in their plans.

The night ended on a tense note, with the House insisting that the Senate provide specific dollar figures on savings for homeowners, and the Senate saying the House was not negotiating in good faith.

The overall savings under Crist's plan are double what the Senate proposed but are smaller than the House's projections of at least $47-billion. But it does not involve raising the state sales tax to mitigate huge cuts to local budgets, as House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-Miami, has sought.

Rep. Dean Cannon, the lead House negotiator, was unfamiliar with the details, but when told the savings were considerably less, he played off Crist's fondness for populist language.

"We would hope he would want to cut the people's taxes as much as we want to cut the people's taxes," the Winter Park Republican said.

- Rolling back local government tax bases to 2003. That would save taxpayers an average of $340 next year, and $1,987 over five years. Schools, water management districts and hospital districts would not be affected.

- Save Our Homes portability. Homeowners could carry the accrued benefits of the 3 percent cap on annual assessments to new homes.

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by nancy	05/17/07 03:26 PM
the city of tampa is cutting jobs because of property taxes being cut off. i believe 9 mill. from the tampa police department alone. the civilians will be cut off alot. by 10/1/07 it will be finishe. we need our jobs! PLEASE HELP. I'M 58.PLEASE HELP!

by Sandy	05/10/07 08:48 AM
To save money, instead of attacking property tax, why don't you ATTACK Food Stamp ABUSE. I am a cashier at Walmart and if people need food stamps it's fine but PUT A STOP to letting people buy T-BONE STEAKS, & LIKE on FOOD STAMPS. Thanks for my say.

by tania	04/28/07 01:39 PM
Dear Governor Crist.Please help us. We can not pay expensive taxes for our houses.

by Jim	04/27/07 08:41 PM
With all the emphasis on reducing taxes there seems to be little concern about the impact on local budgets and the likely reduction in services and layoffs that will ensue. If taxpayers want savings and accountability then they need to act locally.

by BH	04/27/07 03:27 PM
Homeowners are losing their homes because of high RE taxes. $340 a yr is not going to stop foreclosures or induce new residents to live in our State. Wages need to meet the needs of the homeowner to continue residency or increase growth in our State

by Rafael	04/27/07 12:55 PM
Im a professional Realtor who Knows the big problem a lot of home owners are facing with this tax problem combine with the incresed of insurance rate.It is hard to face $400 TO $500 PER MONTH on top of mortgage payment.Our goverment must find a solut

by ed	04/27/07 12:34 PM
Gov Christ's is not nearly enough! What good would a $340 tax saving do for anyone. We need at least 3/4 of the current tax bills taken away from us residents. I agree with the House's version.

by Dee	04/27/07 12:26 PM
The worst inequity is all these part time residents paying taxes in other states and complaining about taxes on 2nd homes here. They could pay less if they would move here, support full time jobs here and make this their home. What greedy whiners.

by JT	04/27/07 12:22 PM
The Senate is a miserable lot of elitist who serve lobbist and corporations not the people. Three cheers for Rubio for standing up for Florida's families. Gov.Christ needs to step up to the plate and swing a little harder than this. LET US VOTE ON IT

by claudia	04/27/07 11:42 AM
The tax reform has to be something that the public will be happy with, in my opinion all this reform is to help the middle class, and I know if I do not have to pay $300 a month on taxes my life will be a lot better. Vote no property taxes.

by John	04/26/07 03:04 PM
Jeb Bush warned us about the class size amendment. It's killing Florida's homeowners.

by Barbara L Shelby	04/26/07 02:39 PM
This is the Governor's plan? You gotta be kidding! More enquities! Now, I will be paying 9 times more than my neighbors' pay!

by What??	04/26/07 01:06 PM
Are you SERIOUS Robert? You clearly know NOTHING about school budgets and the needs they face. School money has been repeatedly cut while unfunded mandates are passed, causing them to put more out for less. Education=less ignorance.

by Brent	04/26/07 12:57 PM
If they roll back the millage rate to 2001 or 2003 my taxes and others in Hillsborough Co. will go UP unless they come up with a way to decrease the Just Value of our homes. Changing the millage rate alone will provide little relief.

by Larry	04/26/07 11:21 AM
Charlie's plan is going to save me $340 on $9,000, what a deal. How can you call the tax relief???

by Ken	04/26/07 09:46 AM
Wake up and smell the coffee - nobody actually pays taxes on the end but we consumers. Business passes the cost along to us - so yes, we all pay anyway.

by Robert	04/26/07 08:29 AM
Schools are the ones who waste the most money; why should they be exempt? And with this proposal, it will leave the tax burden on the businesses, who will be forced to raise prices so we all pay for it anyway.

Politics

Governor's proposal has rollback, portability, no sales hike